Here are the next dates of Sara's Online Chat Forums:
Look for new dates in 2008
Even if you missed the first one you could still benefit greatly by coming to the subsequent Online Chat Forums. Read this entire page and sign up asap so that your questions be answered.
The Sara Silber Online Chat is a community service whose goal is to provide a forum for parents and educators to ask questions about children, families, students, personal development, and educational issues. In the chat, an attempt will be made to give the participant the initial direction needed so that he knows where to go from there. The chat will be open to the participants to ask their questions.
Sometimes parents do not know if a particular symptom in their child is normal or needs professional attention and there is hesitation about going for an individual private consultation when in doubt and the problem then remains and festers. It is hoped that through the online chat that children’s difficulties will be identified early on and that parents and educators will go for the help they need with the child being helped earlier on. In that way one can prevent secondary symptoms from developing which are the result of improper handling of the initial difficulties.
Happier and fulfilled adults make better parents and it is hoped that adults will use the chat to ask and discuss issues which are concerning them and causing anxiety. If stress can be lowered through getting some reassurance, encouragement, support, and/or guidance then everyone benefits.
The online chat is a free service which has the potential to enable all parents to get initial professional direction, whether or not they wish to opt afterwards for an individual private consultation. The chat is not a substitute for individual counseling, as it can only give a starting point as to how to look at the difficulty and cannot give, in the framework that it is, the amount of time and in-depth attention that most cases need to get their required solutions.
As a number of parents will be logging in at the same time for the one hour chat, and as they will be hearing each other’s issues, there will not be the confidentiality in the chat as there would be in an individual private session. Parents, however, may use a different name for themselves and their child when describing their concern and this can help provide privacy to some extent but there can be no guarantees of confidentiality by the professional moderator in this framework as the other listeners may recognize your voice or your situation.
How to log on:
Those who want to take part must get a password from Sara in advance as it is a closed room. To get the password click here on sarasilber@yahoo.com and write me a short email telling me that you are planning to join and give me the name you want to be called by. Please answer the following questions:
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in which city do you live?
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how did you find out about the chat?
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what are the ages of your children?
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what are the issues that concern you now?
You will then be emailed the “lockword” (password) along with some additional short instructions for logging on. In the chat itself I will give the microphone to the participants in the order in which they signed up. It is hoped that a few participants will get to speak during each chat. If time runs out, priority will be given on the next chat to those who come again who did not get to speak the first time around. The lockword will be changed from time to time to prevent unwelcome attendees from crashing into the chat.
Looking forward to our chat online, Sara
Send your email now to get your lockword.
